Make-up system



Oct. 24, 1933. A BLQME 1,931,976

MAKE-UP SYSTEM Filed May 22, 1951 III INVENTOR AYAg BB lo me ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 24, 1933 MAKE-UP SYSTEM August B. Blome, St. George, Staten Island, I

N. Y., assignor to The New York, N. Y.-

Superheater Company,

. Application May 22,1931. Serial No. 539,228

7 Claims. (Cl; 60-64) My invention relates to steam engine installations which have both high pressure and low pressure steam generating and steam utilizing elements and in which the ,fiuid medium for the high pressure elements is retainedin a circuit separate from the low pressure generator and aims to provide a convenient and reliable means for providing make-up water for the high pressure circuit. 7. V V Steam generating and utilizing installations have been proposed in which'steam is generated in. a high pressure boiler; and, after being utilized in high pressure cylinders or the like, is con- I densed in a condenser-evaporator which fur- 5 nishes steam for a low pressure cylinder, or cylin ders, the condensate from the condenser-evaporatorbeing pumped back into'the high pressure boiler. Such installationshave the advantage that raw water may be usedi'nlth'e condensergo evaporator without the formation of troublesome scale,. the high pressure boiler being supplied initially "with pureor evaporated water which is conserved during the operation of the appara- 4 tusi There is, however, some loss of waterirom 5 the high pressure circuit and which must be made up. i In many stationary plants, it is now the practice to employ purified or distilled water in the boilers and special apparatus for supplying make-up water to such plants is in commonuse;

at fixedfpoints along therailroad'lines require attendants. t I

It is an, object of my invention to provide an arrangement for supplying make-up water for the high pressure circuit of portable double pressure installations of the type described and which is Iree from the objections above mentioned.

In accordance with m invention',"some of the steam produced in the low'pressure evaporatorcondenser is condensed to supply make-up water '45 which is then pumped into the high pressure boiler. V .1

In a more restricted aspect, a feature of my invention 'is that the condensing coil of the evaporator-condenser is utilized to condense 5 0 such part of the steam generated'in the generating chamber of the evaporator-condenser as is to be used for furnishing make-up water.

In order that my invention may be fully and clearly understood, I will now describe in detail,

in connection with the accompanying d w g,

an installation adapted for locomotivetuse andhaving means for supplying make-up waterin accordance with my invention. In said-drawing,

Fig. 1 is acentral longitudinal vertical Section, somewhat diagrammatic in character, of a double pressure locomotive having a closedcircuitfor the high pressure steamand water.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on a largeriscaleofan ejector appearing, in outline in Fig. 1'.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.1, but illustrating amodification. Q V

.The installation illustrated in the-drawing comprises a pairof high pressure engine cylin-.

ders 10, 10 whose pistons will beunderstood to be connected to driving wheels and to operate'in 7 the usual manner. The high pressurecylin'ders,

10, 10 are connected'into 'a high pressure steam and water circuit comprising a-drum, 12, having generating water. tubes 14 connected thereto and shown as forming a water tubefirebox andjcomg bustion chamber. 'A pipe 16v in the high pressure' circuit conducts steam from the drum .12 to a high pressure superheater-18 from which the steam passes through pipe 20 and the throttle valve 22 to cylinders 10. The steam exhausted from high pressure cylinders 10.is delivered by pipe 24 to a condensing coil 26 which forms the heating. element in an evaporator condenser. 28.

Preferably an oil separator, 30, is placed in pipe 24 between cylinders 10' and evaporator condenser 28. Feed water, which may be raw water, is'supplied to the'evaporator-condenser 28 by meansoi a feeding pump 32 in a pipe 34. Normally, a body of water 36 is maintained with in the evaporator-condenser 28 of Sufiicient depth to surround andv cover the coil 26. Thepressure Within evaporating space of evaporatorecondense er 28 automatically maintains itself somewhat lower thanthat of the steam entering 001126- from cylinders lO so thatthe'exhaust from the cylinders 10 is condensed in-coil 26 at the'same time that steam is generated from-the body of water 36. The low pressure steam generated from body 26 is taken off from the upperpart of the evaporator-condenser 28 and passes through pipe '38, superheater 40, pipe42, and throttle valve '44, to the-low pressure'engine cylinder 46,

the exhaust from which passes out through the stack 48 in the usual mannen At the same time the low'pressure' steam is beinggenerated in the evaporator-condenser, the exhaust from cylinders 10 is being condensed in coil 26. The condensate from coil 26 runs down into: a hot well tank -50 preferably outside of the evaporator-condenser, and from the chamber 50 the water is, forced back into the drum 12 of the high pressure boiler by pump 52 in the pipe 54, the pipe 54 having therein an economizer 56. The locomotive having the above described elements preferably may also include an air heater, 58.

The features above described form no part of my invention. In accordance with my invention, however, make-up water for the circuit formed by the high pressure boiler having drum 12, the steam pipe 20, cylinders 10, pipe 24, coil 26, and

pipe 54, is obtained from the steam generated. in

evaporator-condenser 28. The make-up water is therefore entirely free of impurities irrespective of the character of water fed into the evaporator-condenser through pipe 34. I do not limit myself to any particular means of utilizing some of the steam from evaporator-condenser 28. In the arrangement illustrated, pipe includes for this purpose a hand-operated stop valve 62 and a check valve 64 and conducts steam from pipe 88 to the intake chamber 66 of an ejector 68 connected to the pipe 24. As illustrated in Fig. 2, steam abstracted from the pipe 38 through the pipe 60 is sucked into the chamber 66 by means of a lower pressure created in this chamber by steam from pipe 24 flowing through the nozzle 70, the delivery end of nozzle '70 projecting through the chamber 66 and opening into a mixing nozzle 72 whose inlet end opens to the chamber 66 and which delivers to pipe 24.- Steam passes through nozzle with suificient velocity to draw steam through pipe 60 into chamber 66 and nozzle 72. The steam thus abstracted from pipe 38 therefore is mixed with the exhaust from j the cylinders 10 and delivered through the pipe 24 into the condensing coil 26 where the mixture is condensed and the total water formed from steam from pipe 38 and cylinders 10 is pumped to the drum 12 of the high pressure'boiler in the manner 5 previously described.

It will be seen therefore that the engineer in charge'of a double pressure locomotive equipped with my invention may supply water to the high pressure boiler at any time he desires by merely opening the valve in the line connecting a low pressure steam pipe with an ejector in the exhaust line from the high pressure cylinders.

In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1, special means including the ejector 68 are employed for introducing steam from the low pressure system into the high pressure steam system. However, I do not limit myself to this, since such ejector means are not necessary except when the locomotive is running. When the high pressure throttle 22 is shut off, steam from evaporator 36 can be condensed and transferred to the high pressure system for make-up purposes without the ejector 68, or equivalent means. In Fig. 3, I have illustrated an arrangement withinmy invention and somewhat'similar to Fig. 1, but in which the ejector 68 is omitted. In Fig. 3, steam line 60 is taken off from pipe 42 and extended upwardly and forwardly to a connection through pipe 24 at the point '74 adjacent to the point of entrance of pipe 24 to the interior of the evaporator-condenser 36. A check valve '76 for preventing flow from pipe 24 to pipe 42 preferably is in the pipe 60', check 76 being shown immedi ately adjacent point '74 although this is not necessary. Pipe 60, of course, includes hand-operated stop valve 62 similar to the valve 62 in pipe 60. When the throttle valves are closed to cut off steam to the cylinders, usually the pumps 32 and 52 are being operated, in accordance with the usual practice of locomotive drivers to operate the auxiliaries when the engine is stationary, so that steam may then be transferred from evaporator 36 to a high pressure drum 12 in Fig. 3 as follows:

The valve 62 is opened and steam will then pass into the condensing coil 26 and, owing to the cold water being forced into the shell of the evaporator 28, will condense in the lower portion of the coil 26 and run down into the receptacle 50 from which the condensate may be pumped into drum 12 by the pump 52 in the usual manner. Additional makeup water may be obtained at the same time by providing a heater-condenser '78 in the pipe 34. When such additional condenser '78 is used, I prefer to take off from pipe 60' a branch 600. having acondensing coil 80 therein within the heater-condenser 78. The lower end of the branch pipe 60a connects with the receptacle 50 for condensate through a check valve 82. While the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 of having two check valves is preferred, the checks 76 and 82 may be combined and placed in the line 60 ahead of the point at which the branch 60a is'taken off therefrom. It will be seen that when valve 62' is opened and pump 32 is operating, the cold feedwater passing around the coil 80 within the shell 78 will condense vapor of water taken'from the evaporator 36 and the condensate will run down into the receptacle 50 and may thereupon be pumped into the high pressure drum 12 as before described. a

I have shown the pipes 60 and the pipe 42 between the low pressure superheater 40 and the low pressure cylinder 46. I prefer this arrangement for the reason that steam or vapor passing through the pipe 60 then serves to cool the superheater. However, I do not limit myself to this arrangement;

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a high pressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser connected to receive heating steam from said engine, means for fore-- ing'condensate from said evaporator-condenser back into said boiler, a lower pressure engine connected to receive steam generated in said evaporator-condenser, means whereby feedwater may be supplied to the evaporator space of said evaporator condenser and an ejector pump connected to utilize steam from the connection between said high pressure cylinder and said evaporator-condenser to withdraw steam from the connection between said evaporator, condenser and said low pressure engine and to force steam so withdrawn into the condensing element of said evaporatorcondenser.

2. The combination with ahighpressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser, a connection for conveying exhaust heating steam from said engine to said evaporator-condenser, means whereby feedwater may be supplied to said evaporator condenser means for forcing condensate from said evaporator-condenser back into said boiler, and means for forcing steam generated in said evaporator-condenser into said exhaust connection.

3. The combination in a double pressure steam generating and utilizing apparatus including a high pressure circuit and having an evaporatorcondenser arranged to utilize heating steam in the lower pressure portion of said high pressure circuit of means for transferring steam from the evaporator-condenser to the condensing zone and means for utilizing condensate from the steam so 60' connected to transferred as make-up for said high pressure circuit.

4. The combination with a high pressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser connected to receive heating steam from said engine, means whereby feedwater may be supplied to said evaporator condenser, means for making condensate from steam from said evaporator and means for forcing said condensate into said high pressure boiler,

5. The combination with a high pressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser connected to receive heating steam from said engine, means for supplying feed water to said evaporator condenser, and condensing means utilizing the cooling effect of said feed water and condensing steam formed in said evaporator condenser for make-up water for said high pressure boiler.

6. The combination with a high pressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser connected to receive heating steam from said engine, said evaporatorcondenser having a condensing coil connected to receive heating steam from said engine, a pump for forcing condensate from said coil back into said high pressure boiler, means for forcing feed water into said evaporator-condenser, and a direct valved connection between the vapor space of said evaporator-condenser and the intake of said coil whereby steam generated within the evaporator-condenser may be condensed in said coil and the condensate pumped into the high pressure boiler for make-up.

7. The combination with a high pressure boiler and engine connected to receive steam therefrom of an evaporator-condenser connected to receive heating steam from said engine, a pump connected to receive the condensate from said evaporator-condenser and to force the same into said high pressure boiler, meansrfor forcing feed water into said evaporator-condenser, a feed water heater having condensing means therein and connected so that the feed water for the evaporatorcondenser passes therethrough, a direct valved connection between the vapor space of said evaporator-condenser and said condensing means of said water heater whereby said feed water heater may condense steam formed in said evaporatorcondenser, and a connection for delivering condensate from the condensing means of said feed water heater to said pump.

AUGUST B. BLOME. 

